It's my understanding that this Lester unit is a ferroresonant charger, like the OEM Elec-Trak charger. But it uses a built-in "electronic timer" as they call it to make it an "automatic" charger. Several years back I talked with the folks at Lester about buying their "Electronic Timer Kit" and adding it to the OEM charger and essentially turning it into an "onboard" automatic charger. Back then I think you could buy a rebuilt "electronic timer" for around $50 from Lester.
I never followed though because shortly after that I picked up the Lestronic II for free. The guy that had it tried to check no load output voltage and got nothing, duh. So, and very thankfully so, he figured it was shot and just gave it to me. Sometimes it's better to just shut up and run home with the prize. Naturally, with a load attached, the charger worked fine.
Anybody have any thoughts on this approach to upgrading the OEM charger. Would then somehow adding a Landis Controller make it a real idiot proof way to keep our batteries charged?
Mike in KY----- Original Message ----- From: "David Roden" <etpost drmm net>
To: <elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu> Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 12:17 PM Subject: Re: (ET) Fully charged pack voltage
On 23 Apr 2009 at 13:05, Michael S Briggs wrote:Your info on what the OEM charger does is very helpful - I was wondering if it did any current tapering.The GE charger is a ferroresonant design. This helps to keep its outputvoltage stable over a moderately wide range of input voltages. Thus it actslike a regulated power supply. Essentially, it IS a taper charger, about the simplest charge control available. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to the "etpost" address will not reach me. To send me a private message, please use the address shown at the bottom of this page : http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ Elec-trak mailing list Elec-trak cosmos phy tufts edu https://cosmos.phy.tufts.edu/mailman/listinfo/elec-trak